Vintage Barbies

I recently started thinking up a new project involving vintage Barbie clothes. Then I realized that Lola doesn't have any Barbie dolls. I don't think she's ever even played with them. If she has, it hasn't been under my roof. I was going to hold off introducing them to her bc it was something I just wasn't jazzed about getting into. To me, modern day Barbies are kind of tacky and they have way too many little pieces. I'm also trying to raise my daughter to respect herself enough to dress modestly. It's been a while since I've gone down the Barbie aisle, but I'm doubting much has changed since I was a kid so I'm sure Barbie's still showing off her belly and wearing lots of hot shorts and low-cut tops. I'm old-fashioned. So sue me. Check out 1 Timothy 2:9 and 1 Peter 3:3-4 in your Bible before you get too hard on me. Influences are everywhere and I don't want to put anything in her hands that might encourage her to try want to imitate it.

I digress.

Then, after scouring a couple of antique stores while searching for vintage Barbie clothes for my project, it occurred to me that I should just get out all of my old Barbies. And these aren't just "old" from the '80s, but they were my mom's Barbies from the '60s! I played with these Barbies as a kid and they were old then! That old green suitcase was all I needed to burn a few hours of playtime. In fact, I know I had my own Barbies, but frankly, these are the only ones I really have a memory of. Except for "Peaches N Cream" Barbie. Haha! I thought her puffy dress was awesome.

Nowadays, I especially like that all of these dolls' clothes are handmade and super cute and much more conservative than what I could buy these days. I've been so anti-Barbie since having a daughter, but these I'm totally okay with. Lola's been having a blast with them. I washed all of their clothes and everything is Downey fresh now! It's also my plan to let her play with these for as long as possible not only bc they're cute, but there's so much history in them. I think it's fun to imagine all the adventures these little cuties have been on.

**And on a side note, I was so pumped about vintage clothes I went on eBay and got into a bidding war over a couple of bags of clothes. I couldn't believe anybody else would be as interested as I was. These weren't even Barbie's brand of clothes, they were homemade! Since I'm not real familiar with eBay bidding, I kept texting my brother to get his opinion on what I should do, should I keep bidding? let it go? what if I lose!? what would you do? His response was essentially that he couldn't believe anybody would want old homemade Barbie clothes and, frankly, he's not exactly familiar with what they're selling for these days. LOL I don't know why I thought he could help me.

Below, just to point out a few things I've always loved about these Barbies: Several of them have factory-painted cherry red fingernails! The two girls in the very last pic were always my favorite. I thought the brunette was so pretty (and she has real eyelashes!) and, Midge, has freckles! I always thought that made her more spunky. And, for some reason, my mom chewed on a few of their feet so I don't know what that was about. She doesn't either. LOL There's another brunette that would be cute but someone gave her a bob with some dull scissors, I think. Got her all messed up. (Not me, again.) The crazy platinum blonde girl has a tiara attached to her head and that always bothered me. I'm thinking that me and Lola are going to play Barbie beauty shop soon and try to help some of these girls. I'm thinking of mini headbands....

So, that's my Barbie post. It's been so fun to see these guys after about 20+ years. I NEVER imagined that someday I'd have a little girl to play with them too. I'm sure Gramby (my mom) never thought that either or else maybe she wouldn't have chopped off that one's hair and chewed up some of their feet. :) (I kid, I kid, Mom!) So, I think I've discovered a new hobby/craft to look into: homemade Barbie clothes with a modern, conservative twist. Hmmm...